"We Are Marshall" tells an inspiring true story set in Huntington, West Virginia, a small town steeped in the rich tradition of college football. For decades, players, coaches, fans and families have come together to cheer on Marshall University's "Thundering Herd." For this team and this community, Marshall football is more than just a sport, it's a way of life. But on a fateful night in 1970, while traveling back to Huntington after a game in North Carolina, 75 members of Marshall's football team and coaching staff were killed in a plane crash. As those left behind struggled to cope with the devastating loss of their loved ones, the grieving families found hope and strength in the leadership of Jack Lengyel, a young coach who was determined to rebuild Marshall's football program and in the process helped to heal a community.
"We Are Marshall" stars Matthew McConaughey as Jack Lengyel, the coach who leads Marshall University and the Huntington community from tragedy to triumph; Matthew Fox as assistant coach Red Dawson, who helps Lengyel rebuild the team after giving up his seat on the doomed flight to another member of the Marshall squad; and David Strathairn as the president of Marshall University, who attempts to restore the school's broken spirit against overwhelming odds. The film also co-stars Anthony Mackie ("Million Dollar Baby") as passionate team captain Nate Ruffin and Kate Mara ("Brokeback Mountain") as Marshall's head cheerleader Annie Cantrell."We Are Marshall" tells an inspiring true story set in Huntington, West Virginia, a small town steeped in the rich tradition of college football. For decades, players, coaches, fans and families have come together to cheer on Marshall University's "Thundering Herd." For this team and this community, Marshall football is more than just a sport, it's a way of life. But on a fateful night in 1970, while traveling back to Huntington after a game in North Carolina, 75 members of Marshall's football team and coaching staff were killed in a plane crash. As those left behind struggled to cope with the devastating loss of their loved ones, the grieving families found hope and strength in the leadership of Jack Lengyel, a young coach who was determined to rebuild Marshall's football program and in the process helped to heal a community.
"We Are Marshall" stars Matthew McConaughey as Jack Lengyel, the coach who leads Marshall University and the Huntington community from tragedy to triumph; Matthew Fox as assistant coach Red Dawson, who helps Lengyel rebuild the team after giving up his seat on the doomed flight to another member of the Marshall squad; and David Strathairn as the president of Marshall University, who attempts to restore the school's broken spirit against overwhelming odds. The film also co-stars Anthony Mackie ("Million Dollar Baby") as passionate team captain Nate Ruffin and Kate Mara ("Brokeback Mountain") as Marshall's head cheerleader Annie Cantrell.
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Based on true events, "We Are Marshall" tells the inspiring story of how a small town in West Virginia struggled to cope with a devastating loss and restore their community after one of the worst disasters in the history of American sports.
On the evening of Saturday, November 14, 1970, a chartered jet carrying Marshall University's football team, coaches and fans, was on its way home from a hard-fought game in North Carolina. Less than a minute before its scheduled landing at Tri-State Airport, the plane crashed in the Appalachian Mountains, killing everyone aboard: 37 players, eight coaches and university staff, the flight crew, and 25 prominent Huntington citizens who had made the trip as they always did to cheer their "Thundering Herd."
In the aftermath of this stunning tragedy, university president Donald Dedmon (DAVID STRATHAIRN) prepared to suspend the school's football program for the season - perhaps indefinitely. Assistant coach Red Dawson (MATTHEW FOX), who narrowly missed the ill-fated flight, couldn't face going back onto the field.
But in Huntington, Marshall football has always been more than a sport: it's a way of life. And this town would rally to save it.
After some initial setbacks, they found hope and strength in the leadership of outsider Jack Lengyel (MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY), a young coach determined to rebuild Marshall's football program and, in the process, help to heal the community.
Less than a year later, on September 18, 1971, Marshall University's brand new Thundering Herd was poised to stage one of the greatest comebacks in collegiate sports. A raw, youthful and inexperienced squad, patched together under the guidance of Lengyel and Dawson, they would defy overwhelming odds just to march onto the gridiron for the school's first game since the accident.
That season, it didn't matter whether Marshall won or lost. It didn't even matter how they played the game. All that mattered was that they played.
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